NOTRE DAME BELMONT
Humanities Concentration
Launching with the Class of 2028, the Humanities Concentration engrosses students in the study of language, history, religion, literature and philosophy. Students explore elements of life that impact human beings and their cultures with analytic critical methods of inquiry. Students are taught to understand the past, question the present and imagine the future while developing the power of their voice, both spoken and written. Well equipped in making evidence-based inferences, students learn to tailor their written and spoken word to each audience to achieve a specific purpose. Students develop a deep appreciation for human values and the unique ability of the human spirit to express itself.
Who is a Humanities Tiger?
A Humanities Tiger has a heart of compassion and a longing to understand, engage and serve others. A Humanities Tiger may often be approached as a role model, frequently asked questions by classmates. Always interpreting and analyzing human interactions, a Humanities Tiger has powerful self awareness and reflects on themselves and the world around them. Friends of a Humanities Tiger may frequently ask them for advice or seek them out for support. A Humanities Tiger works to understand why people are the way that they are and investigates how they can help others to become their best selves.
Humanities Students Develop:
- Creative, critical and compassionate thinking skills
- The ability to lead a people-centered academic and professional career
- The ability to understand narratives across cultures
- Tools to utilize the power of persuasion
- Proficiency in researching and synthesizing information
- Fluency in a foreign language
- Historical consciousness
- The ability to analyze, evaluate and construct complex arguments
- Clear and persuasive writing and verbal expression
- Storytelling skills
- The ability to emphasize and communicate effectively with diverse populations, identities and backgrounds.
- The ability to form ethical judgments and decision making
- The ability to collaborate with others and work well in teams
NDB students achieved 100% pass rate on the following Humanities AP Exams, exceeding CA and global scores!
Chinese
Spanish
Creating Community
Classrooms embody the compassionate spirit of NDB, where faculty and students build trust with one another and feel safe to share, make mistakes and grow. This empowers students to have honest discussions where they are empowered to share their personal interpretations of events and learn from one another.
ASL Students Translate Forensics Mock Trial
American Sign Language (ASL) students put world languages into action as they translate courtroom correspondence for the Forensics Mock Trial, where students play out the roles of courtroom judges, lawyers, clerks and more.
The Catalyst Student Newspaper
The Catalyst is NDB's award-winning student newspaper, providing students with hands-on experience in journalism reporting, writing and editing. Crafted for students by students, The Catalyst is published digitally and in print several times throughout the year. Each issue includes news stories, photos and graphic designs by students in the journalism program. Through both the journalism class and club, students have a place to learn and practice expressing their journalistic voice for the NDB community.
Tiger TV
Tiger TV is NDB’s broadcast journalism news show. Started in the early 2010's by teacher Frank Ryerson, it features live newscasts, recorded news packages and “people on the street” interviews by student journalists. The show itself is broadcasted from its basement studio at the end of every other week. Through both the journalism class and club, students learn to apply both their English and visual arts skills in multimedia storytelling for the NDB community and beyond.
Tigers Interview Senator Becker as Part of the Tigers Vote Project
Tigers from the National Honors Society (NHS) launched the Tigers Vote Project this year, an initiative to build student understanding of how our government and elections work. Over the course of two months leading up to the national presidential election and local elections, Tigers sent weekly communications to the student body including newsletters and videos.
The Tigers Vote Project representatives, in partnership with Notre Dame Belmont's Journalism program and Tiger TV, were able to sit down with State Senator Josh Becker to discuss items including the legislature's annual calendar, issues specific to the SF Peninsula, voting and democracy, lowering the voting age, culture and self-censorship, the Phones-Free School Act and advice for the next generation of voters.
Career Examples:
- Teacher
- Journalist
- Editor
- Writer
- Graphic Designer
- Anthropologist
- Archaeologist
- Social Worker
- Historian
- Therapist